Headed by a Snake

Tycon opened the blue wooden shutters and walked onto the balcony overlooking the rocky bay. He breathed in the ocean air, placing his hands on the ornate metal railings.

"I wonder where my cute sister has gone..." he mused aloud.

Tycon smirked as he heard faint giggling noises behind him. Oh, what a foolish little girl.

"Well, if she's gone..." Tycon sighed, overly dramatic, "I'm gonna go raid her panty drawer!"

"You wouldn't!!" An olive-skinned girl screamed, revealing her hiding spot on the roof.

Tycon hopped up and snatched the girl's ankle, pulling her down and loosening some tiles. Keeping hold with both hands, he dangled the girl over the balcony.

"Big brother! Let me go!!" the girl screamed.

Her short dress hung upside-down and her undergarments were on display for the world to see. As she struggled, her hair wriggled in distress to match her emotions.

"Very poor choice of words, Cass!" Tycon laughed, "The more you move, the looser my grip gets!"

"Stars and stones! I'm sorry! Just pull me uuuuuup!!" Cass yelped, trying her best to keep still.

Tycon pulled the girl up, straining a bit to do so, "By the heavens, you're heavy!"

"That-- you're not supposed to say something like that to a girl!! You're supposed to be a gentleman!!"

Cass swept back the green streak in her otherwise all-black hair. Tycon was always amused how the green shade of it accurately matched his own. She stood as high as his chest, but she was still young. In a few short years, she would surpass him both in height and in--- ugh...

"Psh N--ahhh.... Rrghhh..."

Tycon snarled in agony, taking a knee and holding both hands against his pounding head.

"NO!! I will not stand idly while being forced to watch!! I am in control of MY OWN FATE!!"

« I will refuse with every onze of my being. System, override: I need control of this dream. »

[Force overriding... Override complete.]

Almost immediately, the pain halted as Tycon stood and took a step forward. Looking back, he was surprised to see he looked upon himself-- standing as he continued to talk with his sister. He had stepped out of his corporeal body as a mana-projection of himself.

It was a small victory, watching his past self from an outsider's perspective instead of his own.

Examining himself, his first thought was, of course, that he was very attractive. However long ago the dream was set in... his dream-face was very similar to how it was normally. However, Tycon felt he was far more professional than past-him.

He theorized a reason... perhaps he had yet to become a murderer.

« System, inquiry: How much control do I have over... whatever is happening? »

[System response: The user can skip to any point in time of the recorded dream sequence.]

That was convenient. The System's response implied that the vision Tycon was having was a finite sequence. He had no interest in the minutiae of his past-- but he would glean what he could from what little he was provided.

« System, display a visual search sorted by time. »

A transparent box filled with hundreds of tiny images showed Tycon the contents of his dream.

He did not care for the endlessly white house, with its interiors' pillows and low tables. Nor did he care for the medusa sister that he had no emotional attachment to.

Tycon focused on a different memory... Time shifted forward, to a new scene-- one where he was arguing the girl, Cass.

She held her elbow, turning away, "Mother is calling for you."

The medusa girl sounded distressed... fearful or regretful, perhaps. Tycon narrowed his eyes at the young girl's image. This wasn't the memory he needed-- but it was close.

Tycon needed questions answered. What was he trying to do? Why was a medusa from the Free Nation working for Princess Aurala of the Kingdom? He would free himself of his debts before he could truly do as he pleased.

He found a different memory but hesitated. He did not have the privacy provided by his Private Sanctum spell. Perhaps it was the memories in his snake blood, but Tycon always remained wary of being watched.

« System, inquiry: Is anyone watching this outside of me? »

[System response: 2 results, Sasarame; Snake God]

« System, remove viewers... »

[Understood. 2 viewers removed.]

« Empty night... System, change setting: Prompt before any connections are made. »

[Setting change complete.]

Tycon focused his mana on accessing the memory...

Tycon saw a white snake with red eyes. The size of her form far surpassed his. She was larger than Ananta the Endless... and even larger than that pervert, Old Fool. She laid in the center of dozens and dozens of males snakes, all vying for her sexual attention, all while Tycon watched in his human form.

She stared only at him.

Though Tycon's mind was filled by an instinctual fear, he willed himself to keep his thoughts. The massive female stared at the past Tycon, and not him as he was. The memory had already happened-- it was a mere recording. While he was certain the giant white snake was nothing to be trifled with... in the arena of his own mind, he was god.

Tycon fast-forwarded through the memories, shaking off his nagging anxieties until he finally discerned the answers to his questions.

Rylania, the Queen of Stone.

His mother.

She was the massive snake from his memories, more powerful than anything he'd seen, thus far.

Queen Rylania had assigned him 3 quests in 3 cities... one for Fairhaven in the Kingdom, one for Cersei's Rest in the Holy Country, and finally, one for Vralkek in the Free Nation.

...He needed to go to the Holy Country, anyroad. Maximus of Ezyria was the former Rex Gladiatores. Tycon would honor him by reporting his death and recounting the tale.

He had seen enough from his own mind.

« System, command: Return me to consciousness. »

...

Tycon shot awake, immediately gripping his hand. He didn't want to hurt the young Sasarame-- but he did want to throttle her around a bit.

He kicked his legs into the air, using the momentum to stand.

"Sasarame!!"

Tycon placed his hand on the hilt of the Shatterspike as he scanned the room.

A gentleman in a white peaked hood relaxed against a wall, as silent as a ghost. The style of the figure's cloak and hood were strikingly similar to his own.

"Yo," the man waved. "You were off-grid for awhile."

Tycon felt an annoying rumble in his stomach, somewhere between disgust and an ulcer, "Who the hells are you?"

The figure approached, red eyes glowing beneath the shadows of his hood, "Kehe. You always this rude to--"

The arrogant man's question was interrupted by Tycon striking his nose with a lightning-quick jab, "Ow, what the-- why?!"

Tycon had half-drawn the Shatterspike from its sheath but hesitated. The hood fell away and revealed the man's face. He had a familiar-looking head of green hair, a handsome face with symmetrical features, and red eyes with vertical pupils. If the man wasn't an identical copy of him, then he was only slightly less attractive.

« System, inquiry: Target status. »

[Target not detected.]

Troublesome.

« System, inquiry: Who is in this room with me? »

[System response: 1 result. Sasarame.]

Tycon replaced the sword in its sheath. Whoever he punched in the face was no threat to him. (And if he was a threat, a mere sword wouldn't be enough to stop him.)

The green-haired doppelganger wiped the blood spilling down his upper lip, "Tsssss. Good hit, but did it have to be the nose?"

Tycon ignored the man's question, "How am I to address you?"

"Kehe... Well, since I doubt you're willing to call me Snake God... you can just call me Zehr."

"I don't believe in you," Tycon explained simply.

Zehr placed his hands behind his back, nodding, "I know how you mortals think. When a man appears from nowhere and claims to be a god, you immedi--"

"You misunderstand. I don't believe *in* you."

The white-cloaked figure stopped abruptly... "That makes sense. I usually keep track of my followers of Iron-Rank and higher... I'd lost track of you for a few moons..."

Zehr cracked a smile, "What~ happened?"

Tycon narrowed his eyes and offered a hypothesis, "Perhaps I realized I had no use for gods."

"Regardless, because of your bloodline, you still fall under my domain." Zehr shrugged, "You needn't do anything. But I do help those who ask."

"You bleed. You're not omniscient," Tycon was not impressed. "What use are you?"

Zehr's eyes glowed with a dull red mana, "I am the poison that breeds doubt. I am the flaw in thy careful plans, the secret thy lover holds hidden, the insecurity that fuels thy passions."

Tycon sighed and betrayed a smile, "From doubt, I seek to question. From my flawed planning, I begin anew. From secrets, I trust-- but verify. And in my passions, I live truthfully."

Zehr's eyes widened and his jaw slackened, "...Then what am I?"

Tycon responded in Parseltongue, "(Thou art knowledge, that I may overcome myself.)"

"Most interesting..." Quietly, Zehr closed his eyes and wore a derisive smile, "Ask thy questions, Champion."

"Where's Sasarame?"